Metallic protective sheathing for surfaces and method of applying metal foil



Jan. 23, 1934. PERKlNs 1,944,457

METALLIC PROTECTIVE 'SHEATHING FOR SURFACES AND METHOD OF APPLYING METALFOIL Filed June 6; 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ar-ro 121v 1 H. F. PERKINS Jan.23, 1934.

METAIJLIC PROTECTIVE SHEATHING FOR SURFACES AND METHOD OF APPLYING METALFOIL Filed June 6. 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 23, 1934 METALLICrno'rno'rrvn SHEATllING ron SURFACES AND METHOD or APPLYING- METAL FOILHarry Perkins, Clayton, Mo., assignor to Metalfoils, Incorporated, St.Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application June 6, 1931. SerialNo. 542,545

8 Claims.

This invention relates to protective sheathings for roofs, walls,ceilings and other surfaces, and particularly, to protective sheathingsof the type that are formed from strips or pieces of metal foil joinedtogether by locked seams, as disclosed in the pending application forpatent of William T. Deacon, Serial No. 432,414, filed March 1, 1930,and the pending application of William T. Deacon and Harry F. Perkins,Serial No. 476,208, filed August 18, 1930.

The main objects of my present invention are to provide a metalprotective sheathing 'of the general type referred to, in which thestrips of foil constituting the sheathing, are arranged in a a novelmanner that enables the strips of foil to be applied without thenecessity of building a scaffolding or staging at the edge of thesurface being covered; that enables foil to be applied easily to asurface arranged between two perpendicular walls; enables several crewsof workmen to be employed at the same time in the operation ofinstalling the sheathing; reduces the necessity for workmen to walk uponthe adhesive used to secure the sheathing to the surface being covered;reduces to a minimum the wastage from trimming the strips of foil incovering a tank roof or other surface of substantially cone or sphericalshape, and enables the strips of foil to be applied to such a roof orsurface rapidly and evenly and substantially free from wrinkles.

Another object is to provide a method of covering a surface with metalfoil, that enables the operation to be carried out quickly, efliciently,conveniently, with minimum wastage of the foil 6 used in the operation,and without the necessity of erecting a scaffolding or staging at theouter edge of the surface being covered, said method being applicable tothe laying of the foil by hand or by a machine, and also applicable tothe laying of strips of foil that are either lapped or joined togetherby locked seams.

And still another object of my invention is to provide a novel way ofproducing water-tight joints between strips of foil that are disposed atan angle to each other. Other objects and desirable features of myinvention will be hereinafter pointed out.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a top plan view, illustrating my inventionin connection with a substantially cone-shaped tank roof.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view, illustrating theco-acting upstanding flanges or portions on two adjacent strips of foilprior to bending, curling or deforming said flanges to produce a lockedseam between the strips.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view, illustrating the seamproduced by interlocking said flanges.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view, illustrating one method ofconstructing the runway or tread surface with which the sheathing isprovided.

Figure 5 is a top plan view, illustrating the key strips andangularly-disposed strips before the co-acting flanges on same have beencurled or deformed to produce locked seams.

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view on the line 66 of Figure 5.

Figure '7 is a vertical sectional view, similar to Figure 6, but showingthe co-acting flanges on the laterally-branching strips curled toproduce a locked seam. Figure 8 is a sectional view, similar to Figure6, showing co-acting portions on the key strip and laterally-branchingstrips bent upwardly preparatory to curling said portions; and

Figure 9 is a sectional view after said coacting portions have beencurled to produce a locked seam between the key strip and thelaterallybranching strips.

Briefly stated, my broad idea consists of a protective metal sheathingfor a surface, composed of strips of metal foil lapped or joinedtogether by locked seams, and arranged so that one end of the stripsterminate at or adjacent to the outer edge of the surface covered by thestrips, and the other end of the strips terminate at an intermediateportion or portions of said surface. At the points where the inner endsof the strips terminate they are joined by locked scams or lapped overan intermediate strip or strips of foil, which, for convenience, I havereferred to as a key strip or key strips. In laying the strips they arestarted at the outer edge of the surface being covered and are runinwardly from said outer edge, thereby overcoming the necessity ofbuilding a scaffolding or staging at the outer edge of the surface beingcovered, so as to support the workman or apparatus used in the operationof applying the foil. In the method heretofore used to apply metal foilto a tank roof, such a staging was absolutely essential, whether thestrips of foil were laid by hand, or laid mechanically by means of afoil-laying machine having provision for supporting a supply coil offoil, and constructed in such a way that the machine can be moved ordrawn over the surface being covered so as to progressively apply astrip of foil under pressure and roll said strip in such a way that itwill lie fiat and substantially free from wrinkles.

The strips of foil constituting the major portion of the sheatingpreferably extend parallel to each other and run inwardly from the outeredge of the surface to a key strip or intermediate strip. While I haveherein described my invention applied only to tank roofs, I wish it tobe understood that the invention is applicable to other kinds of roofs,to ceilings, to side walls and to various kinds of surfaces.

Figure l of the drawings illustrates a metal protective sheathing for asubstantially coneshaped tank roof, made up of a plurality of strips offoil A of less length than the diameter, cord or width of the roof andarranged in parallel relation, and an intermediate strip or strips offoil B, which, for convenience, I will refer to as a key strip orintermediate strip. In the form of my invention herein illustrated thestrips of foil A have their longitudinal edges joined together by lockedseams :1: (see Figure 3) which are produced by progressively curling,bending or deforming upstanding flanges 11 on adjacent strips in themanner disclosed in the two pending applications previously referred to.The inner edges of the strips A are also joined by similar locked seamsto the key strip or strips B. As previously stated, however, it isimmaterial, so far as my broad idea is concerned, whether the strips offoil are joined by locked seams or lapped joints that are made gas andliquid-tight by a suitable adhesive. The strips of foil constituting theprotective sheathing are either secured directly to the surface 2 beingcovered by means of an adhesive, or they may be secured by an adhesiveto felt, paper or any other suitable material that will serve as asupporting base for the sheathing and which is attached in any suitableway to the supporting structure of the roof or to the surface 2protected by the sheathing. If desired, anchoring devices that arerolled into the seams of the sheathing and attached to the protectedsurface, may be used to prevent the sheathing from moving with relationto said surface, and to produce good electrical contact.

In laying the strips of foil I prefer to use a portable laying machinewhich is of such con struction that when said machine is moved over theroof, a length or section of foil will be drawn from a supply coil orroll carried by the machine, superimposed upon or. applied to the roof,and subjected to a pressing operation orrolling operation that smoothsout the foil and causes it to lie flat and free from wrinkles and airpockets. In covering a substantially cone-shaped tank roof of relativelygreat diameter, for example, the roof of a tank having a diameter ofapproximately 120 ft., a strip of foil B is started at the center of theroof and run outwardly towards the outer edge of the roof, the outer endof said strip t'erminating anywhere from a few inches to two feet fromthe edge of the roof. Another strip of foil B is then started at thecenter of the roof and run outwardly in such a direction that the twostrips B are arranged in longitudinal alignment with each other on theroof diameter, and thus, in effect, form a transversely-disposed keystrip that practically divides the surface of the roof into two zones orportions, each of which comprises substantially one-half of the roof.The strips of foil A are then applied to the roof by starting each stripat the outer edge of the roof and running it inwardly to the key stripor intermediate strip that extends diametrically across the roof. Onlarge flat roofs or surfaces, it may be found expedient to run more thanone key strip.

In the operation of installing the strips A a foil laying machine of thekind previously described can be used advantageously to apply saidstrips to the roof, because no staging or scaffolding has to be built atthe outer edge of the roof, owing to the fact that it is not necessaryto run the foil laying machine beyond the edge of the roof, as would benecessary if the strips A extended unbrokenly across the entire diameterof the roof. In other words, in the above described method of applyingthe strips A, the supply coil or roll from which the strips are drawn,is moved inwardly from the outer edge of the roof to an intermediatepoint on the roof, and when the point of termination of each strip isreached, the supply coil or roll is still located at a point in advanceof the inner end of the strip. This is also true in the event the stripsof foil are laid by hand as the supply coil or roll of foil must be heldbeyond the edge of the roof in applying the foil to the peripheralportion of the roof.

When the key strip is reached the length of foil that has. just beenapplied will be severed from the supply coil or roll and the foil layingmachine thereafter returned to the outer edge of the roof, after whichthe laying machine is again moved inwardly to the key strip to applyanother length of foil. From the foregoing it will be seen that at thetermination of the operation of laying each length of foil A, the layingmachine is sustained or supported by an intermediate portion of theroof, whereas, if the strip A were started at one edge of the roof andrun continuously across the diameter of the roof, it would be necessaryto provide a staging or scaffolding at the opposite side of the roof tosupport the foil laying machine and permit said machine to be moved farenough (in some cases 4 ft.) beyond the edge of the roof to cause thepressing roller' of the laying machine to act properly on the terminalportion of the strip of foil.

In addition to permitting the strips of foil A to be applied rapidly,properly and without the necessity of erecting a scaffolding at the endof the roof, as previously described, the above described method ofapplying the strips of foil makes it possible for several crews ofworkmen to be employed at the same time, in the operation of installingthe sheathing, thereby enabling a roof or otherv surface of relativelylarge area to be covered quickly. This, of course, is due to the factthat the intermediate strip or key strip divides the roof into twozones, each of which can be worked upon by two crews of workmen of theroof to points adjacent the edge of the roof, so that the roof willsupport the foil laying machine during the final portion of theoperation of applying the key strips to the roof, the segmental portionsof the roof beyond the outer ends of the key strips being covered byrelatively short strips of foil C that can be applied by hand. Anotheradvantage of the above described methodofapplyingfoilisthatthefoilcanbekept clean. because the. workmen haveaccess to their operations without walking over the adhedve used tosecure the foil to the surface being covered.

It is not absolutely essential that the key strip or strips be locatedat the exact center of the roof, or that the key strip extenddiametrically across the roof, for if desired, the key strip orintermediate strip may extend diagonally and may be located at any pointdisposed in such relation with the outer edge of the roof that willpermit the roof to be used to support the workmen or the foillayingmachine at the termination of the operation of laying one strip or onelength of foil. I have not herein illustrated the foil laying machinethat I prefer to use to apply the strips of foil to the roof, and I havenot herein illustrated the machine or tool that is used to interlock theupstanding flanges v on the longitudinal edges of the adjacent strips offoil, so as to lock-seam the strips of foil together, as it isimmaterial what types of laying machine or lock-seaming tool is used.Suffice it to say that in producing a protective sheathing embodying thepreferred form of my invention, strips of metal foil provided withco-acting upstanding flanges, are applied to the surface being covered,and the strips of foil are joined by locked seams produced by means of atool or apparatus that progressively curls, bends or deforms coactingportions on two adjacent strips of foil, so as to produce a gas andliquid-tight seam or joint between said strips.

As previously stated. one feature of my present invention consists of anovel method for lockseaming adjac'ent strips of foil that are disposedat an angle to each other. Figures 5 to 9, inclusive, illustrate saidmethod used for joining a key strip B to angularly-disposed strips Athat branch laterally from the key strip. As shown in Figures 5 and 6,the key strip B is provided at one of its longitudinal edges with afolded portion 1/, that is doubled over the body portion of said keystrip before the laterally-branching strips A are applied. After theco-acting portions on the parallel strips A have been turned upwardly toproduce the flanges y, the terminal portions of said flanges thatoverhang the doubled or folded portion of the key strip are cut so as toform a terminal notch 11 in said flanges, as shown in Figure 6. The nextstep in the operation is to curl or deform the flanges 1 so as to form alocked seam :c, as indicated in Figure'l, the terminal portion of saidseam which overhangs the key strip, being of reduced height or thicknesson account of the removal of the terminal portions of the flanges y toform the notch 11, previously referred to. The folded portion 3 of thekey strip B and the terminal ends of the strips A that lap over the keystrip are then 'bent upwardly, as shown in Figure 8, so as to formco-acting portions on the key strip B, and on the laterallyprojectingstrips A. Thereafter, said upturned co-acting portions are curled ordeformed so as to produce a locked seam :c, as shown in Figure 9, thatextends continuously or unbrokenly along the edge of the key strip, andwhich has incorporated in same the terminal portions of thelaterally-branching strips A, including the terminal portions of .thelocked seams a: between the strips A. This method of forming a lockedseam between strips that are disposed at an angle to each other enablesthe laterally-branching strips to be joined to the key strip quickly andin such a mannerthat there are no cracks or openings at the points wherethe locked seams a: between the strips A terminate at the seam a." whichextends along the edge of the key strip, and form a liquidtisht Joint.

In order to prevent the foil sheathing of the roof from being puncturedby operatives walking on same, I prefer to provide the sheathing withone or more rimways. As shown in Figure 4, a runway can-be formed from apiece J of fairly heavy gauge metal, preferably sheet aluminum, that iswide enough to form a walk and which is preferably corrugated ordeformed in a manner that will impart stiffness to same and also producea fairly rough tread surface that a person can walk on without liabilityof slipping. The side edge portions of the runway J are doubled orfolded so that they will embrace attaching strips J preferably formedfrom metal foil, and are secured to said attaching strips by rivets J,or in any other preferred manner. The runway as an entirety is combinedwith or attached to the metal sheathing of which it forms a. part bylock-seaming the attaching strips J to the portions of the sheathinglocated at opposite sides of the runway, said locked seams a: beingproduced in the manner previously described, i. e., by bending, curlingor deforming portions of the attaching strips J' and co-acting portionsof adjacent strips of foil of the sheathing. If desired, an adhesive maybe used to connect the runway J to the surface protected by thesheathing. This tread may also be laid over the sheathing and locked inlike manner.

Instead of riveting or otherwise connecting attaching strips to theedges of the runway, as

above described, the runway member J can be interposed between twosheets of foil, with or without an adhesive, and the edge portions ofsaid encasing sheets can be interlocked with co-acting portions of thesheathing so as to produce locked seams :c that join the runway to theadjacent portions of the sheathing. While I prefer to form the runwayfrom metal of fairly heavy gauge, a runway can be produced from a sheetof rough material, such as saturated asbestos felt interposed betweentwo sheets of metal foil, with or without an adhesive, and said encasingsheets of foil may thereafter be joined by locked scams 1; to theadjacent portions of the sheathing.

Having thus described my invention, what I 31852121838 new and desire tosecure by Letters Paten 1. A method of joining a pair of strips of foilto a strip of foil which is disposed at an angle to said pair,consisting in arranging portions of the pair of strips in overlappingrelationship. with a folded or doubled portion of the angularly-disposedstrip, curling or deforming co-acting portions on the stripsconstituting said pair so as to form a locked seam between the same, andthereafter curling or deforming the doubled portion of theangularly-disposed strip and the overlapping portions of the stripsconstituting said pair, so as to produce a locked seam which hasincorporated in same the terminal end of the locked seam between thestrips constituting the pair.

2. A method of joining a pair of foil members to a third foil member atwhich said pair of members terminates, characterized by arranging theterminal portion of the pair of members in overlapping relationship witha folded or doubled portion of the third member, then curling ordeforming upstanding flanges on the pair of members so as to produce alocked seam having a reduced terminal end, and thereafter curling ordeforming the folded portion of the third memher and the overlappingterminal portions of the pair of members so as to produce a locked seamthat has incorporated in same the reduced terminal end of the lockedseam between the pair of members.

3. The combination of a pair of foil members that extend in the samegeneral direction, a locked seam formed by deformed integral portions onsaid members, and a third foil member at which said pair of membersterminates joined to same by a locked seam which has incorporated insame the terminal end of the locked seam between said pair of members.

4. A protective sheathing for a surface, comprising a plurality ofparallel strips of metal foil of less length than the diameter, cord orwidth of the surface, and a key strip or intermediate strip locatedwithin the marginal edge of the surface and disposed at an angle to saidparallel strips, the ends of said parallel strips being connected byliquid-tight joints to said key strip.

5. A sheathing for a surface, composed of strips of metal foil, saidstrips comprising a key strip that divides the surface into a pluralityof zones, and said zones comprising parallel strips that run inwardlyfrom the outer edge of said surface and terminate at said key strip, theends of said parallel strips being joined by tight joints to said keystrip.

6. A protective sheathing for a tank roof, composed of a key strip ofmetal foil that extends diametrically across said roof, and parallelstrips of metal foil disposed at substantially right angles to said keystrip and branching laterally in opposite directions from same, thelongitudinal side edges of said parallel strips being joined together byliquid-tight joints and the ends of said parallel-strips being joined byliquid-tight joints to said key strip.

'7. A method of covering a surface, characterized by applying a keystrip of metal foil to an intermediate portion of said surface so as todivide said surface into a plurality of zones, and thereafter coveringsaid zones with parallel strips of foil disposed at anangle to said keystrip and running inwardly from the outer edge of said surface to'saidkey strip.

8. A method of covering a circular tank roof, characterized by applyingmetal foil to said roof so as to form a key strip that extendsdiametrically across the roof, and thereafter covering the portions ofthe roof at opposite sides of said key strip by applying to saidportions parallel strips of metal foil running inwardly from the outeredge of the roof and having their inner ends connected by liquid tightjoints to said key strip.

HARRY F. PERKINS.

